A Magician's Quest
by DragonflyxParodies
Summary: This a horrible rough draft in the process of being rewritten. Stay tuned for something readable! Shade's freed and nothing more than an empty husk. Together with her band of dysfunctional friends, Carter must find the perpetrator and stop him from dragging her home into the Otherworlds-and fight a few old enemies on the way.


Seth shot me a look when I tripped over a rock and went sprawling, swearing loudly. I got that we weren't supposed to be screwing around in the cave, but just because we were, for lack of a better term, 'treasure hunting', didn't mean I was going to sneak around like a spy. I had a pair of old jeans on that were torn from previous tripping events, and my flannel shirt had definitely seen better days. I had transformed about an hour earlier when we'd arrived, so my wizard hat kept slipping off my head. I picked up my wand, which had fallen, scowling momentarily at him.

"You know, we _are _allowed in here." I said, pushing myself up. Seth glared at me.

"You know what, if you don't shut up everyone will figure out that-"

"Dude, stones and gems are a totally natural occurrence. You're only obsessing over it because I mentioned it last night. Everyone with brains knows if you're short on cash come down here and get whatever it is you need if you can find it." I said, exasperated.

"Dude, now everyone in here knows that there's-"

"Seth, use your brains."

"STOP CUTTING ME OFF!" He shouted. I laughed, leaning against the cave's wall. My hat tipped over my face, and I pushed it up, annoyed. It fell off almost immediately-as if someone had pushed it-and a weight settled atop my head.

"Who's on my head?" I asked, my voice suddenly very, _very_ icy. Seth just boggled whatever it was.

_Please don't let it be spiders, please no spiders, please, please, please, I'd take a murder, just not a spider…_

"Thanks, Seth." I said sarcastically, not willing to move. A familiar snicker made me relax.

"Seriously? My head?" I demanded, pushing off the cave wall and shaking my head somewhat frantically to reassure myself that, _no there were no arachnids up there_. Familiar grinned at me, and fluttered onto my shoulder, dramatically flinging its arms-or wings, depending upon how you looked at it-around my neck. With a head shaped like a double-sided ax, I wasn't surprised Seth had been so shocked.

"I MISSED YOU!" Familiar shouted at the top of his lungs, making me wince.

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Seth demanded, pointing his wand at me. Let me make one thing clear. A wand was like a gun. You point it at someone, and chaos ensues. Only an idiot would point a wand at someone if they were extremely emotional. Reason? Wands _always_ acted up when their owner was emotional, and they didn't even need a spell. Except for mine, because Principal Sol had put a spell on it after I had almost blown up the Tower in a fit of pure rage. Seeing my expression, Seth lowered his wand, but still kept giving the familiar an odd look.

"Seth, this is Familiar."

"Wait, you actually took that class? Dude, I knew you were obsessed with your grades, but _seriously_?" He demanded. I shrugged.

"It was worth it." I said.

"I HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY!" Familiar shouted.

"WHAT?" Seth shouted back.

"IT'S NOT FOR YOU!"

"I swear, I will shock the next person who screams so badly, they'll end up in the infirmary with third degree burns." I snapped. Both of them fell silent so quickly I thought someone had flicked an 'off' switch.

"Mast-_Principal_ Sol wants to talk to you." Familiar amended. I frowned. Sol had told me once that when you first summoned a Familiar, that was the only Familiar you could summon for the rest of your life. By default, they only ever called _you _master. I had vehemently forbidden Familiar from calling me that, but that didn't change anything. Was Sol different? My mind went to the suspicions I had about the Principal.

"Carter! Dude, don't make me punch you!" I blinked at Seth for a minute.

"What?"

"Are we going or what?!" He demanded. I could tell he was struggling to not scream, and I smirked, which only irritated him more. He had learned to like yelling once he'd learned I didn't like it.

"Yeah, sure." He shot me a flat look and dragged me out of the cave. Familiar didn't say anything else, just clung to my neck. It was a long walk back to the Tower, and Seth didn't talk at all on the way there.

"What does Sol want?" I asked finally.

"How am I supposed to know?" Seth demanded, turning around to glare at me.

"I wasn't talking to you, Seth." I said, shooting him a look. Familiar laughed.

"I'm not allowed to say." Familiar said simply. I rolled my eyes.

"Of course." I muttered. The Tower finally came into view, and with it someone I thought I'd never see again.

"What the he-"

"Hello, Carter, Seth." Nightmare said, sounding…calm. I stared at him. Nightmare was exactly what is name implied. He created every nightmare ever experienced by anyone. He'd taken an interest in giving _me_ nightmares once, and I'd had to dig up an ancient charm to use on him before he had stopped. I had thought he'd vanished to the Otherworlds.

"You know each other?" Seth and I said at the exact same time. I stared at Seth, and he stared at me.

"He's my Dad." Seth said slowly. I looked at Nightmare, and Familiar cackled.

"Why am I not surprised?" I finally sighed.


End file.
